So Verizon’s Droid is official, and officially arriving a week from Friday. I’m smart enough to know it’s pointless to call any phone an iPhone killer, or even a potential iPhone killer–and that competing with the iPhone is much more about software and overall integration than it is about hardware specs. (If you could kill the iPhone through trumping its specs, it would already be a goner.) But the Droid does pack better specs than the iPhone 3GS does in many areas–including its screen, which has well over twice as many pixels. It runs the promising Android 2.0 OS. And it’s on a network that doesn’t provoke much in the way of squawking from customers. In short, it’s the most formidable Google rival since the Palm Pre.

I have a Droid in hand (lent to me by Verizon) and will report in with a hands-on report soon. But as is my wont, I’m going to begin with a features comparison. Note that the information that follows mostly doesn’t take third-party applications and products into account.

This T-Grid is a work in progress, subject to expansion and revision.

The phones

Verizon Droid by Motorola

Apple iPhone 3GS

Platform

Google’s Android 2.0

Apple’s iPhone OS 3.0

Availability

November 6th

June 19th

U.S. carrier

Verizon

AT&T

Price

$199.99 with two-year contract after $100 rebate for 16GB model

$199 for 16GB model or $299 for 32GB model with two-year contract

Service (Unlimited voice minutes, data, and text messages)

$150 per month

$150 per month

Locked?

Verizon-only

Yup, to AT&T

Colors

Black

Black and white

Size and weight

4.56” by 2.36” by 0.54”; 5.96 oz.

4.5″ by 2.4″by 0.48″; 4.8 oz.

Screen size, resolution, and technology

3.7″; 854 by 480; LCD

3.5″; 480 by 320; LCD

CPU speed

600 MHz, reportedly 550 Mhz

600 MHz

RAM

I’m not sure 256MB

256MB

Multitasking

Yes

Only of Apple’s own bundled apps

Openness

It’s hard to sum up in a chart; Android Market occasionally has apps yanked but apps can also be distributed outside of it; apps can customize interface and otherwise tweak OS; Verizon Wireless rep told me she knows of no apps forbidden to use Verizon network

It’s hard to sum up in a chart; Apple approves (or doesn’t approve) all apps; apps are sandboxed; some bandwidth-intensive apps prohibited from using AT&T network

59 Comments For This Post

According to Moto, there is a compass, gthough no standard compass app to take advantage of it. The compass sensor is important mainly so augmented reality apps like Layar can figure out the phone’s orientation.

The showstopper = Itunes. Apple knew after they had this in the bag they could own the mobile industry. Many of my friends ALWAYS argue that they don’t care about tunes on their phone. BS. Itunes is so much more then music – videos, podcasts, music, etc. all in one place. Unless someone can add Itunes to this thing, it’s going to have a rough ride.

According to the official website, the Droid’s processor is only 550 MHz. However, comparing spec on devices running such different operating-systems is pretty much pointless. The 3GS will undoubtedly be faster in certain situations, but if you want to check the weather while listening to Pandora, the iPhone isn’t capable of doing that.

Anders: “Turnby turn” means that the GPS tracks your movement, tells you when to turn, and then notifies you of the next turn. The iPhone does not do this with Google Maps. Even if you buy an expensive GPS app for the iPhone, the iPhone’s lack of multitasking severely limits its usefulness.

Like the chart. I was fortunate to get one to play with as well. I see the comments have hit a lot of the small misses, but the biggest to me is Exchange support. It took me a few minutes to set up my exchange mail account on my Droid. Also, the syncing of contact information between the Google contacts I already had and my exchange accounts contacts AND my Facebooks friends is incredibly slick and helpful. Similar to the Pre’s feature.

Another key difference is the the Droid supports the AVRCP Bluetooth profile, which allows you to switch songs from a headset or your car stereo. The iPhone is capable of this, but Apple hasn’t enabled it yet, which is very frustrating!

Also, your processor specs fail to take into account the Droid’s GPU which allows it to offload multimedia threads and for the end user will make it a smoother experience than the iPhone.

I was looking at this grid and thinking yeah the Droid is very tempting, especially and it’s with Verizon, but then I realized why I’d still prefer an iPhone even though it’s on AT&T and that’s because of iTunes. In that regard I agree with Mike.
Not to mention all the iPhone apps, and oh yeah, it syncs with my Mac.

DoubleTwist negates much of the iTunes advantage, and Android does sync with a Mac, but there is not much reason for it. Podcasts are synced OTA with Google Listen, and transfer of files, music, videos, etc, is simply drag and drop from any OS, Windows, OS X, Linux, etc.

And you can’t overestimate the benefit of multitasking – i.e. follow google map while playing music, while podcasts download.

As Stephen said, third party apps exist for editing office files. I’m familiar with Docs-To-Go on Palm(Garnet), and it is available for both iPhone and Android. I’m not familiar with QuickOffice, but a quick glance at their website seems to indicate iPhone but not Android. Both only seem to support MS Office, but that is what most people care about. I’m still looking for something that works like DtoG with OpenOffice files…

The writing of this article is so poor that it distracts from the content. While blogging is the big equalizer, it’s always nice to see someone work a little hard to put out something readable. This is just awful.

Not sure who would win in this bout… until we hear people’s comments about the new Motorola Droid. Based on this detailed comparison, technically the Droid wins over the iPhone. Although the iPhone has an edge over apps (which BTW is obvious since Android store is new). Just wait til T – 0

You need to add a column for “Developer startup costs”….obviously cheaper for Driod devs. And, “Required Developer OS” (for the iPhone its Mac OS, for the droid it’s anything that can run Java i think).

Does the Droid provide true hands-free operation using a bluetooth headset? Specifically, when there’s an incoming call from a number in the phone’s address book, will the phone announce the NAME of the caller through the bluetooth headset?

another joke 256MB! People don’t give two hoots about the ability to root either. I don’t (no pun intended) see anyone flocking to linux based OSes, even though they are perhaps more “powerful”. So much for “open source”. Maybe hundreds of basement nerds will line up excited to call themselves “black hat”. What are crap marketing call.

Also, why does anyone give a hoot about extra megapixels on the camera – are you framing the picture on a wall? why do you need 8278×10000 resolution anyway? please. I NEVER use the camera…it’s a non-factor. As long as the pictures are viewable, who cares. What are you, a pixel addict? It’s like someone trying to buy a new car and race your old car. WHO CARES, NON FACTOR. 3 MP, 40 MP, its stupid.

How about usability? Every video I have seen so far shows the same issue as the Storm had, you cant go from potrait to landscape without a 30 sec delay. LOL. Or how about the hundreds of different interfaces on one screen. Pick one layout already. You don’t need 399 menus. It took the Google Nav app 20 sec to load satellites. YIKES! You sure the GPS isn’t crippled like in every other Verizon device? How did VZNavigator not end up being the choice? Wow, Verizon is going to take a hit on that 9.99 a month junkz.

Why do I need to multitask 93 items at once on 256 MB of internal ROM? I could care less about multitasking 2 items on my phone now. And again, who is Verizon targeting? Normal phone users dont even know how to dial, let alone run two “apps”. MAJOR EPIC FAIL dummies. Who markets this without asking real users their opinions?

They should have waited a little longer. Google needed to work some kinks out, and tinker with design. The thing looks like a VCR tape. Come on. Round edges idiots. People dont want sharp jabby items in their pocket.

And so what you’ll have flash. Do you honestly think Apple isn’t working on getting Safari to support it? Please, its coming, as well as Google Nav on the iPhone.

You might as well call the phone VOID…

The iPhone is faster, lighter, more useable,

AND is more fun. PERIOD. Out of the box fun. The phone sucks for call, but who wants to talk to anyone anyway. Most people are boring.

And futher if you jailbreak it, the iPhone is unbeatable. sn0w. if you want “open” source, its right there to be found…

last time I checked, droids are all alike. Looks like this one is the same as every other VERIZON marketing strategy – 200% lies, 500% hype, and hidden contract charges by customer service reps who can’t tie their shoes. I went to the Verizon store today to ask about this “KILLER”, and they told me that the “Storm 2″ is coming in a few days,

The main difference to me is iTunes and multi-touch. I’ve played around with many touchscreen phones and they just frustrate me. After getting use to browsing with a multi-touch all others fall by the way side. As for multi-tasking I solved that problem easily. I jailbroke my iphone and it opens up everything. Its a totally different phone and it is fully customizable and has a app for running programs in the background so you can multi-task.

I’m looking at this list and see one HUGE non-starter. It appears that the Droid has only a SINGLE touch screen. If this is correct, it’s a major drawback in my opinion. When I first saw the iPhone, it was the first time I saw reasonable web browsing on a screen that small. The zooming was intuitive and easy to use. I can’t imagine how they’re going to implement that on the Droid to make it a real competitor. Also, the lack of a multi-touch screen means that there can NEVER be multi-touch apps on the Droid.

No one in other forums seems to be commenting on this particular issue. Is the Droid spec list incorrect? Hard to believe that no one would care about no multi-touch screen.

The specs on the droid aren’t very accurate. Its multitouch and its completely open… Google can ban apps or approve/deny them from the Android Market but you can still download them from any other websites that you want. With the iPhone, every single app must get approval, regardless of delivery channel. You should also mention that MobileMe features are extra charges, whereas all of those are also free on Google.

Itunes is garbage. Pay for what. That is why limewire is popular. Even I don’t know why it is so popular. Most of the podcasts, music, and etc. can be found using alternative ways anyway. I hope this phone kicks its a$$. I am so sick an tired of hearing about that phone. Most people with it have problems on the ATT network anyway.

Droid will be a solid competitor to the iPhone. It has good handset technology, Google’s support, 2 killer free apps with Google Voice and Google Navigation. It is also rumored that my favorite app NeuroMobile will be available on the Droid soon. It’s not enough for me to switch but I can see why others might.

So its judgment day today for Droid, was it? According to Cnet it was a little bit slow nonetheless a good start of droid, other “critiques” says otherwise. But I say, “Hell yeah! droid conquered US for a couple of hours today”. We just hope that their ROI is profitable compare to the hunderds of thousand worth of ads they spend during the promotion period and err.. did I say, their impending “lawsuit” with AT&T too?

Hi Harry,
Intereting side by side review, but reviewers somehow keep missing is THE REASON I will never buy an iPhone:

MUSIC!
With the iPhone, you have to use quicktime, itunes, a proprietory cable. You cannot drag and drop folders of music to and from your phone.

I detest all of that (and I own two mac computers of my own). I like being able to plug in to a generic USB, on ANY computer anywhere, and just add or remove or copy music to and from the device as much as I want, no interference from a freak controlling Apple.

This makes iPhone (or an iPod for that matter) completely unacceptable to me.

FYI…
I picked up a Droid from Costco. $199 with no mail-in rebate plus a free car charger. The Verizon store has them for $299 and a $100 mail-in rebate. Car charger is $30. Verizon online has them for $199 but I don’t like to wait for shipping.

After a few days on the phone, I really love it. The killer features thus far for me are: turn-by-turn navigation, voice commands (dialing, google searches, map searches, etc), speed of Google Maps (searching, traffic updates, map updates), pattern draw to unlock phone, MULTI-TASKING (how can iPhone possibly live without this). Camera phone is much better than the latest Blackberry Tour. Internet is fast and along with an amazing screen, you almost don’t need a laptop. The list goes on…

I only have three complaints so far:
(1) Keyboard: slide out keyboard is very un-ergonomic and hard to use. But I like the toggle pad deal on the right side to move the cursor around and jump between fields. The landscape mode is hard to use because it’s so wide, the portrait keyboard has small keys so the typing is very inaccurate. Of course, it’ll get better as I get used to it. But the Blackberry (been a devout BB user since 2002) keyboard destroys anything else out there.

(2) The small light in the upper right blinks green all the time. No big deal, but it should change to another color like red when I have a new voice mail/email/calendar reminder (Blackberry does this). I have to unlock the phone and look at the notification area to see if I have any new items

(3) Although the POP email icon holds all my POP accounts (nice to have it consolidated and I think the previous version of Droid had separate boxes which would be a hassle) it shows a new email notification icon in the top every time it checks for email (every 5 minutes). It does this whether or not I have a new message.

Thanks Verizon and Google for putting out an amazing phone. I’m sure Google will roll out updates and fixes pretty quick over time and keep improving on the phone.

I have played with the Droid now and it is better than the iPhone. Through 3rd party apps (such as double twist) you can sync iTunes to your Droid. There are 2 versions of the Droid and the Eris (fiance has this one) has rounded edges, same size screen as iPhone, 8 GB in phone memory and 8 GB Sd card that is upgradeable to 32 if needed. Talk time is longer and 3G coverage is far and away superior. Plan I have experienced is a family share plan totaling $150/month for 2 phones. That is 1400 anytime mins., free nights and weekends, unlimited texts and pics to anyone/any network, 10 friends and family and unlimited internet on the phone (including maps). There is now a compass as well. I was asking for a new 64 GB ipod for christmas (upgrade from Gen 1 32 GB iPod touch ) but have switched to asking for 32 GB Droid. Only complaint after looking at them in person is that they are heavy and a bit boxy for bigger model. Eris is very comparable to iPhone and app store is very easy to navigate.

Lets put it this way. Iphone came out three years ago and only up to the mention of the iphone 3gs did other companies decide to start making phones to kill the iPhone. All smart phone companies are competing with the iphone more than they are competing with eachother which obviously says that iPhone is doing something right. There are two versions of the iphone, Jailbroken and unjailbroken. Droid and all can probably so much as be equal to the iphone but not beat it. Apple’s future updates can almost guarantee, especially since it is taking so long to come out, that the next update will utterly leave many people speechless again, just as they did with 3.0. Now it makes sense that iphone took a while to add in all these basic features but once it was added it was just more of a reason to own an iphone, because of its amazing interface. Apple did a superb job onthis note however where the iPhone lacks the Droid gains meaning that the droid is competition for the iphone and althought I do not believe an iPhone killer but a good enough competition to keep apple on its feet. If you jailbreak your iphone than their is no comparison. Droid v a jailbroken iphone is pretty much no iphone killer, you can do WHATEVER YOU WANT on a jailbroken iphone seeing as developers mainly attack other companies by selling os modyfing apps. apple very well knows this and as much as they hate jailbreaking and its users, this is the ONLY reason why the company has sold and mainted the popular mobile device, not everyone jailbreaks but so many people have and thus makese it an open source just like the droid does. However I am one of those people that do NOT want a slide out keyboard or a physical keyboard but I do like the multi tasking feature which JB iphone can do, perfectly. Apple shouldnt be afraid of allowing multitasking since they will be able to do it in a way that will probably be less process consuming than jb multitasking but i currently have had running the sims 3, and prey, along with streaming a movie and my phone has not slowed down in the slightest. Iphone does have the ability to multitask and the system can support it, the battery barely has an extra drain but Apple obviously has something in store. Something that will utterly destroy droid and all of its followers.

I have a quick question about the Motorola Droid. I read almost all of the forum and I don’t think that anybody mention anything about it. What I like about the I phone is the fact that you can talk with someone and at the same time look at your e-mail, your text, online or go on the map. Can you actually do that with a Droid?

WOW!! Cause the iPhone came up with everything that the DROID came out with, months ago. The only real difference is the voice search, which is the only cool difference. You don’t need to multitask with 6 apps at one time, you wouldn’t even use one of the apps well enough for it to matter. The iPhone interfaces amazingly with your home computer and makes it easy to use iTunes, which the majority of people are familiar with. There are also 7 times as much apps at iTunes as at Android (app service for verizon). Apple is the future, and you get free iPhone software updates.

Original iTouch owner (2+ years), new Droid owner. The Droid kills…no comparison. Even with a 6000 song iTunes (DRM free) library, I prefer the Droid. The multi-tasking is a game-breaker. Yes, you can toggle in and out on the iPhone, but it’s ohhhhhh so cumbersome. The customization options of the Droid are incredible.

there are several FREE note pad apps, and voice recording apps Free as Well. I want to know the ratio of free apps to pay apps, If the Android Marketplace had the same life as the Itunes marketplace i would be there would be more free apps because the application developing program is free for Android, compared to $99 for the apple application program

[…] the Droid’s minimalist iPhone aesthetic. But is Droid a (iPhone) killer? “It’s pointless to call any phone an iPhone killer,” Technologizer reasons. “If you could kill the iPhone through trumping its specs, it […]